A panel of Egyptian judges has recommended the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party, which has been protesting against the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi since July.

The judges made the recommendation on Monday, saying the party represents an outlawed group, The Associated Press reported.

The recommendation is to be delivered to a Cairo court which is reviewing a case demanding the party's dissolution on October 19.

The move is seen as part of the widening crackdown on activities of the group that has backed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader.

On September 23, an Egyptian court banned the Muslim Brotherhood from carrying out any activities in the country and ordered the seizure of the group's funds.

"The court bans the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood organization and its non-governmental organization and all the activities that it participates in and any organization derived from it," said the presiding judge Mohammed al-Sayed.


The decades-old Muslim Brotherhood formed a political party in 2011, months after the fall of former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak.

During Mubarak's era, the Brotherhood was the only opposition voice as all other alternatives were suppressed.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since July 3, when the army ousted Morsi, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament. It also appointed the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mahmoud Mansour, as the new interim president.

The government of Mansour has launched a bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters and arrested more than 2,000 Brotherhood members, including the party’s leader, Mohamed Badie, who was detained on August 20.

About 1,000 people were killed in a week of violence between Morsi supporters and security forces after police dispersed their protest camps in a deadly operation on August 14.

The massacre sparked international condemnation and prompted world bodies to call for an independent investigation into the violence.